On the recordDecember 19, 2012
I want to thank all of my colleagues who came to the floor tonight to share their experiences and thoughts about Senator Inouye, as well as all my other colleagues who express their condolences to Irene Hirano Inouye, his wife; his son, Ken; his daughter-in-law; his granddaughter, Maggie; and all those who have expressed and shared their experiences with Senator Inouye. This is a man who touched so many lives, not just in Hawaii, but all across the country. And we all know at this point what a great Senator he was and all of the good works that he did, but at a time like this, we often hear from just individuals who want to share their very human stories about individual kindnesses that he showed. In fact, one of my colleagues today said, Did you know that I was at a function where it was raining, and he held an umbrella over my head with his one good arm for an hour? Or how much he cared about the Hansen's disease patients in Kalaupapa, and he invited them to Oahu to meet with the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, so that the Secretary could hear from these residents who often did not get to travel very much, who could share with the Secretary their own concerns and to ask for his help, and they were helped. So it is always a human dimension to what Senator Inouye did that always struck me, and he did so in a very quiet way. So we honor him, we thank him, and his last word before he passed on was, ``Aloha.'' Senator, we bid you aloha. We love you. Aloha.…
